Piano



A. A. HUSEBY PIANO Filed Dec. 5, 1938 0 INVENT OR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PIANO Albert A. Huseby, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to W. W. Kimball Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application December 3, 1938, Serial No. 243,712

Claims.

This invention relates to pianos, and has reference more particularly to a modern type of upright piano characterized by a substantially reduced over all height as compared with the standard upright piano of an earlier period, and known in the trade as underslung action instruments. In such earlier type of upright piano the entire action is located above the level of the key bed and is actuated by upwardly extending abstracts from the inner ends of the keys. The reduction in the height of the case and the string plate in the low modern type referred to has resulted in a corresponding lowering in location of the action to a position substantially opposite the key bed and keys, the action rail being somewhat below and the hammers somewhat above the level of the keys.

This change has brought the wippens to a position below the level of the keys, and consequently has involved the replacement of the upwardly extending abstract, which exerted an upward push or kick on the wippen, by a depending connection from the inner end of the key to the wippen, usually taking the form of a link and lever system, an example of which is disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,102,898, granted December 21, 1937.

A general object of this invention is to provide, win a piano of the low, underslung type above referred to, a simpler and less expensive transmission from the key to the Wippen. More specic objects are, to provide a transmission requiringno lateral supports or guides, to provide a transmission eliminating the use of levers and pivot connections of parts, to provide a transmission requiring no adjustment of its parts other than that of a single capstan screw, to provide a transmission which requires no disconnection from the key but may be bodily removed and replaced with the key, and to provide a transmission system affording a more direct and positive transmission of the key movement to the wippen o1 the piano action than has heretofore been known.

Still other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will be apparent to piano manufacturers and others skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a practical and approved embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig, 1 isa vertical front-to-rear section of the piano, showing the movable parts of the action inside elevation. n

Fig. 2' is a fragmentary side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of Fig. 1, showing the wippen, the capstan screw, and the capstan screw mounting.

Referring to the drawing, and rst pointing out parts that arev counterparts of corresponding elements of a standard upright plano, II) designates the pin block, II the sounding board, I2 the string plate, I3 the strings, I4 the key bed bottom, I5 and I6 the white and black keys fulcrumed intermediate their ends on the balance rail Il', I8 the hinged cover or lid of the case, and I9 Te hinged key cover or fall board. The` action, designated as an entirety by 20, is a standard upright piano action, and since its structural features are well known and constitute in themselves no novel part lof the present invention, a detailed description thereof is deemed unnecessary. l 'v Describing now those novel features in which the inventiony resides, and which constitute the means for transmitting the key movements, when the piano is played, to the wippens of the action, 2l designates a straight downwardly and rearwardly inclined leg that is rigidly connected to the inner end of the key.` This leg is preferably made from the lsame wood stock as the key itself, the key blank having ther combined length of the key and leg, and a section of the blank equal to the length of the leg is cut ofi and then shaped to form the leg. This has several advantages over cutting the key and leg integrally from a single stock blank. It economizes on material used, and it makes the leg much stronger, since the grain of the `wood runs lengthwise of the leg as well as of the key itself. The leg being cut from the key consequently is of identically the same material as the key proper, and this prevents warping which is a very important thing in a piano key,k and causes the capstan screw (later identified) to maintain its contact point with the wippen. The contacting surfaces of the key and leg are united'by a glued joint, and, to increase the strength of the joint the lower surface of themkey has a transverse groove 22 in which lits a transverse tongue 23 on the leg, and a mechanical bond` is afforded by a screw 24 passed through the` lapped portions of the key and legacross the glued joint. The locating tongue 23 not only 'serves the purpose of locating the leg 2| in its proper place while being glued on, but adds considerable additional strength to the joint on account of the grain running transverse to the grain4 of the key. This provides a joint that is much stronger than an integral joint where the grain of the wood runs lengthwise of the key and obliquely of the leg.

The leg 2I is preferably given the slightly tapered form shown, and the leg terminates in a substantially horizontal foot 25. On the top of the foot 25 is preferably glued a hard wood block 26, and screwed through the latter and into the foot 25 is a capstan screw 21 that constitutes a vertically adjustable thrust member to raise the wippen 28 of the piano action and, through the usual jack 29, cause kthe hammer 30 to strike-the string v I3. It will be observed that the inner end of the key is beveled, as shown at I5', so that the keys do not have to be withdrawn in order to adjust the capstan screws. The bevel l5' allows the operator to reach the capstain screws with a suitable wrench when regulating. The rounded arched head 21 (Fig. 2) of the screw bears on a wear pad 3l on the under side of the wippen 28.

It will be noticed that this key board does not have the usual back rail on which the inner ends of the keys rest; but in the idle position of the keys, the foot 25 rests on a felt strip 32 glued on the top surface of a rest rail 33 that, in turn, is supported on brackets 34 cast integral with or attached to the string plate l2, the rail being secured on the brackets by screws 35. Thus the place and function of the ordinary back rail are taken up by the rest rail 33. The rail 33 is maintained in rigidly spaced relation to the key bed bottom hi by inclined braces 36 attached to the rail 33 by screws 31 and to the key bed bottom i4 by screws 38. These braces 36 also keep the key bed and keys from sagging.

I am aware that it has heretofore been proposed, in low upright pianos of the general type herein disclosed but equipped with special actions not employing the wippens of the present standard and almost universally used piano action, to operate the action directly by integral extensions of the keys. But so far as I am aware, I am the rst to embody this principle in a structure wherein rigid extensions of the keys, whether integral with the keys or attached thereto, act on the wippens of the standard upright action either directly or through capstan screws or the like through which lost motion can be avoided. I believe I am also the rst to make the key extension or leg as a separate member attached to the inner end of the key, with the practical advantages of such a construction above pointed out, and to provide a substantially horizontal foot on the lower end of the leg for mounting a vertically adjustable capstan screw or the like to directly engage the wippen.

It will be observed that the keyboard proper is located at an angle of about ve degrees from horizontal, and the front and balance key pins P and P respectively are exactly in line with the body of the key, thereby preventing any exaggerated side movement which would result in the Sharps slapping up against the white keys. In other words, the front and balance pins are located identically the same as in any standard keyboard now in use, and the downwardly projecting leg in consequence of this has a straight up and down motion, which is again vitally necessary in order that the capstan screws will strike the wippens at the proper place.

I do not limit the invention to the exact detail structure and arrangement shown and described, but reserve such modications as fall within the scope and purview of the claims.

I claim:

l. In a piano of the type described, the combination with the string plate and strings, key bed, and keys fulcrumed intermediate their ends, and an action including wippens located below the level of the keys, of means for transmitting movement of a key to its associated wippen, comprising a rigid downwardly and rearwardly inclined leg secured at its upper end to the under side of the inner end of the key, and a vertically adjustable rigid thrust member directly mounted on the lower end of said leg liftingly engaged with said wippen, the top of the inner end of the key being beveled lengthwise of the key to permit the entrance of a tool to adjust the thrust member.

2. In a piano of the type described, the combination with the string plate and strings, key bed, and keys fulcrumed intermediate their ends, and an action including wippens located below the level of the keys, of means for transmitting movement of a key to its associated wippen, comprising a downwardly and rearwardly inclined leg rigidly secured at its upper end to the underside of the inner end of the key, a foot on the lower end of said leg, and a capstan screw mounted in said foot with its head liftingly engaged with said wippen, the top of the inner end of the key being beveled lengthwise of the key to permit the entrance of a suitable Wrench to adjust the capstan screw.

3. In a piano of the type described, the combination with the string plate and strings, key bed, and keys fulcrumed intermediate their ends, and an action including wippens located below the level of the keys, of means for transmitting movement of a key to its associated wippen, comprising a downwardly and rearwardly inclined leg rigidly secured to the inner end of the key, and haidng a transverse tongue and groove engagement with the key, the key and its associated leg being of wood with the grain of the wood lying lengthwise of both the key and leg, a substantially horizontal foot on the lower end of said leg, and a capstan screw mounted in said foot with its head liftingly engaged with the under side oi said wippen.

4. In a piano of the type described, the combination with the string plate and strings, key bed, and keys fulcrumed intermediate their ends, and an action including wippens located below the level of the keys, of meansl for transmitting movement of a key to its associated wippen, comprising a straight downwardly and rearwardly inclined leg rigidly attached to the inner end of the key and having a transverse tongue and groove engagement with the lower side of the key, the key and its associated leg being of wood with the grain of the wood lying lengthwise of both the key and leg, a screw bonding together the lapped portions of said key and leg, a substantially horizontal foot integral With the lower end of said leg, and a capstan screw mounted in said foot and having a rounded head liftingly engaged with the under side of said wippen.

5. In a piano of the type described, the combination with the string plate and strings, key

bed, and keys fulcruined intermediate their ends, and an action including wippens located below the level of the keys, of means for transmitting movement of a key to its associated wippen, cornprising a straight downwardly and rearwardly inclined leg rigidly attached to the inner end of the key and having a transverse tongue and groove engagement with the lower side of the key, a screw bonding together the lapped portions of said key and leg, a substantially horizontal foot integral with the lower end of said leg, a hard wood pad secured on the upper surface of said foot, a Wear pad attached to the under side of said wippen, and a capstan screw screwed through said hard wood pad and into said foot and having a rounded head in contact with said wear pad.

ALBERT A. HUSEBY. 

